Betta doesnt seem to eat

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alexkay

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Wirral, England
hi guys ive had my betta a whole week now (he has lasted longer than the last one) which is a good thing. But he doesnt seem to eat! We use fish flakes but Seth (betta) doesnt seem to eat. When the food goes in all the others swim to surface & fill there boots but seth just carries on swimming about & ignores it. We only feed once a day & worried he not gettin any food. Ive read that betta like live food but I dont know what that is & if it can go in with the other fish? i also put algee waffers in for the plec which the other fish eat & seth isnt bothered with them either? can anyone give me some advice please. x
 

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Try getting pellet food or blood worms. If you can't find live food, get freeze dried. My betta refuses to touch flakes.
 
;) don't be lazy feeding; make sure each fish is offered food formulated for their species. It would help if you could tell us all of the fish you have in with your betta as well. :thumbs:
The betta was probably fed pellets in the store; betta bites, hikari, and biogold are supposed to be good brands. He's probably not eating flakes because he's unused to it, and they don't move around as much as the floating pellets do from the filter current (bettas are enticed by moving food since they are predatory fish). Of course, since most bettas are used to being kept solitary, it is also very possible that he's freaked out by having so many other fish to compete with for food. From your picture, his fins look awfully clamped (unless he's just swimming fowards quickly as you took it). Perhaps he is stressed/not feeling well?
As for live food, they like blood worms and other small worms/larvae, though there is something of a bacterial risk with that from what I've heard. An alternative is frozen food, which you thaw a bit of in warm water then pour in. They're nutrient dense and very palatable.
Hope that helped.
 
Sometimes bettas will go for a week or so without eating when you first get them as they adapt to their new home and learn the feeding routine. Eventually he will be at the surface as soon as he sees you open the lid once he learns the routine. They are pretty fussy eaters as well so when he does start eating, he may not like what you are feeding him and reject it. Luckly there are a lot of different betta specific pellet foods out there so you have lots of choices. Something you might want to do is find out what kind of food they were feeding him at the place you got him and try him on that. I haven't had a betta yet that would take flakes though. No, I take that back. I did have one that took flakes, but my betta collection is small (5 males, 5 females) compared to some people on here. Not many do though from what I have heard. Frozen blood worms or live ones are great food for bettas, but too much can be bad for them. They are packed with protien and too much can cause them to get constipated. They are best used a treats a couple times a week with pellets being the main meal. I like to steer clear of freeze dried blood worms. They are hard and seems like they would tear up the guts of your betta. Just make sure the pellets you get have a high protien content. Betta Biogold by Hakari is a good one. BettaMin by Tetra, Betta Bites by HBH, and Pro Balance by Penn Plax are some that I use. Probably the reason Seth dosent pay any attention to the algae wafers is cause bettas are carnivores so even if he did eat them, he wouldn't get any nutrition out of them. I don't know what other fish you have in the tank, but if they are omnivores you'll need to figure out a way to feed them and the betta so they are all getting what they need. Hope this helps! Good luck with the little guy!
 
On that pic he was swimming forward so that can be my only help on the fins being clamped - i think i took that pic when I had just noticed his ICH so yes he wasnt too good. I cant ask shop what they fed him as they had only got him 24 hours before I bought him. I will try the pellets will get some tomorrow. thanks for the advice. im not lazy feeding either I just didnt know, we all have to start somewhere & the shop assistant sisnt tell me to feed him anything different so how am I supposed to know otherwise.!!!! Can anyone tell me what these pellets are??? Alexs Daddy - the food types you mentioned am I likely to be able to get them in the UK doesnt say where you from.

Mates in tanks are:

UK 70ltr tank pic below.

1 Plec (sid)
5 Plattys
4 Guppies
3 Mollies
2 Red eyes

& of course the wonderful Seth.......
 

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im not lazy feeding either I just didnt know, we all have to start somewhere & the shop assistant sisnt tell me to feed him anything different so how am I supposed to know otherwise.!!!!
Calm down; I had the winking smiley face to show I meant it gently or in jest. And while we all have to start off somewhere, you should do some reading before you get a fish so you're aware of at least what its basic dietary needs are. :/
Out of curiosity, how has Seth behaved with the guppies? There's a poll right now about mixing the two species, since they'll often fight. If he is stressed by their presence, it could be another reason for why he's not eating, though usually the bettas are the ones causing the stress :lol:
As for that's in the pellets? Oh, a variety of meat byproducts, fish meal, and other things that sound completely gross. But, what's important is that they are specially formulated not just for carnivores, but specifically for bettas. In regards to the question about will it be ok if your other fish eat it, I'm sure it wouldn't hurt, but I'd be careful about how much they're taking in. As AlexDaddy mentioned, high-protein foods can cause constipation in some species. I'm not too sure of the kinds you have, but if any are herbivores or omnivores, the protein load in the pellets might be a little much for them to have a large amount of.

edit: I just looked at the tank, and thought I'd suggest something in case stress is his reason for not eating (though as Alex Daddy said, he may just be getting used to the tank). From what I can see, there's the two caves, but not much plant cover. Since bettas are kindof solitary, if other fish are in those caves, he might be disinclined to go in there to hide, even if he really needs too. Maybe you could get him some silk plants to hide and rest in. Most bettas love them ^^
 
I'm in the US and don't know if you can get them in the UK. Sorry!! You could try a search and see what come up. Seeing that you have guppies in that tank though, keep a very close eye on the betta and them. Guppies and bettas tend not to get along with each other due to the guppies having the long colorful flowing tail and bettas mistaking them for other bettas so have a spare tank/bowl ready just in case you need to do a quick move.
 

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